Fiat Punto Accident: B-pillar damage

[kpzen]

Samartha,
Nothing major to make it a total loss.

2 doors
Fitting parts & fixtures
Side body
Running board with side sill
Center pillar inner

Can see some damage on the roof pillar. Full roof may have to be re-painted.
Ask them to do their best & avoid full roof re-paint.

[Samartha]

Originally Posted by kpzen

Samartha,
Nothing major to make it a total loss.

2 doors
Fitting parts & fixtures
Side body
Running board with side sill
Center pillar inner

Can see some damage on the roof pillar. Full roof may have to be re-painted.
Ask them to do their best & avoid full roof re-paint.

Thanks for your comforting advice. The roof is completely untouched. Even the paint is intact. I am visiting the dealer tomorrow and will post a summary of my discussion with them.

[adilj]

I have my doubts on the strength after the replacement of the side body. I highly doubt that the mechanic/tech working on the car will be able to weld it with the same level of precision as it is done while making the car.

So please get in touch with another mechanic before getting the work done on your car. As someone suggested request the Fiat people to inspect the car and then take your decision.

Incase the FIAT people are coming please be present for the inspection. The service center where you took your car will try its level best to convince the FIAT fellow that the car can be repaired and they can do it cause they will get more money from the process of repairing your car than writing it off as a total loss. So please be present when the FIAT fellow come to inspect your car.

[Samartha]

Originally Posted by adilj

I have my doubts on the strength after the replacement of the side body.
============
So please be present when the FIAT fellow come to inspect your car.

Like KPZen said, I don't think totaling the car is an option anymore. I will have to go for repairs and hope for the best.

Am visiting the workshop in the afternoon. Will post some more pictures.

[vidyasagar]

Very sorry to know about the mishap. Thankgod that you are not hurt much. It is really sorry to know what a careless driver (Cabbie in your case) could do to other road users.

Please double check with the service centre about the estimate. 40-50K for such a damage seems less to me.

I am amazed that even with such an impact, even the front door windscreen also did not get damaged. I cannot imagine what would would have happened if it was some other 'not so strong tin can' cars from market leader.

I do not want to sound insensitive..just being curious..do you have some pictures of that xylo, am interested to know extent of damage that happened to it.

[amit_mechengg]

Looks like the cabbie hooked you up with great speeds.
Looking at the damage i can tell you that its not at all a problem.

I have seen worst of the lot being easily repaired by competent garages. In your case you are very lucky that just the doors and running board are more damaged.

The doors will be a direct replacement and so will be the running board. The TASS will open the running board cover and replace the inner piece of BIW board.

They are right. Punto has those pieces spot welded in the factory. Nowdays TASS have those laser alignment equipment and its very easy for them to do the spot welding perfectly.

With all these repairs there wont we any problem to alignment as that is not damaged at all.

[Samartha]

Originally Posted by vidyasagar

Very sorry to know about the mishap. Thankgod that you are not hurt much. It is really sorry to know what a careless driver (Cabbie in your case) could do to other road users.

Please double check with the service centre about the estimate. 40-50K for such a damage seems less to me.

I am amazed that even with such an impact, even the front door windscreen also did not get damaged. I cannot imagine what would would have happened if it was some other 'not so strong tin can' cars from market leader.

I do not want to sound insensitive..just being curious..do you have some pictures of that xylo, am interested to know extent of damage that happened to it.

It's amazing what car crashes could do to you. I now realize I was sort of disoriented in some respects. Here's what I've realized:

• The last thing I heard was the screeching sound of the Xylo braking. That means the Xylo was decelerating as it hit my car. Things would have been a bigger mess if there was a secondary contact between the two vehicles or with a third object. Fortunately, that did not happen. But, the Punto did an excellent job of protecting me during the accident.
• The Xylo's radiator burst immediately. The bonnet crumpled up. The Xylo took a direct impact to its engine. Under police pressure, the cab owner handed over a copy of his insurance certificate to me. I later realized that even the Xylo was brand new -- May 2011.

I visited the service centre (Oberoi) earlier today and the service adviser took every measure to demonstrate their repair capabilities to me. I have some photos and similar stuff. Will post that later today when I reach home.

But yes, it is amazing that the windscreen didn't get impacted. Even the rear mirror is more or less salvageable.

On the plus side, there was a pre-exisiting scratch on the rear panel that will now be replaced. That scratch had been bothering me.

More later.

[idofsuresh]

Samartha,

Sorry about your accident.

If the mistake is on Xylo I think the insurance must be claimed through Xylo's insurance company. It means few things:

- You don't have to shell out a single rupee from your pocket
- There is no depreciation. 100% will be covered by Xylo's Insurance including labor.
- You do not lose no claim bonus.

But I think you need a FIR, some additional formalities and maybe a proof that the mistake is Xylo's. Please ask your insurance company about this. If YOUR insurance company pays for the damages you will lose a lot of money. And Xylo goes scot free.

PS: This is what I heard from my insurance company few years back. They sounded logical.

[pganapathy]

Originally Posted by idofsuresh

Samartha,

Sorry about your accident.

If the mistake is on Xylo I think the insurance must be claimed through Xylo's insurance company. It means few things:

- You don't have to shell out a single rupee from your pocket
- There is no depreciation. 100% will be covered by Xylo's Insurance including labor.
- You do not lose no claim bonus.

But I think you need a FIR, some additional formalities and maybe a proof that the mistake is Xylo's. Please ask your insurance company about this. If YOUR insurance company pays for the damages you will lose a lot of money. And Xylo goes scot free.

PS: This is what I heard from my insurance company few years back. They sounded logical.

Good point. In all this mess of considering the work needed on the car, none of us thought about how if the Xylo's insurance covers everything, you have no expenses and your NCB is untouched.

I guess you would need an FIR which states that the Xylo was responsible for the accident and the Xylo driver would need to accept culpability. Otherwise his insurance company would make it difficult for you.

[SushantV]

Honestly I do not feel like it is a huge damage. People are too finicky (total loss for a damage like this ????)

I've been through worse (the figo that I bought last week was the outcome of a far worse collision that I experienced in my alto but the boys repaired it well). Anyway, coming to the point, this damage is very well under control. Do not take random advices. The repairing staff knows of what they are capable of and they do fairly decent job in restoring the vehicles original condition. Can't comment on the estimate part given by the dealer though. Add up another 30-40% to the dealer's estimate to arrive at a more reasonable figure.

[Samartha]

Originally Posted by pganapathy

Good point. In all this mess of considering the work needed on the car, none of us thought about how if the Xylo's insurance covers everything, you have no expenses and your NCB is untouched.

I guess you would need an FIR which states that the Xylo was responsible for the accident and the Xylo driver would need to accept culpability. Otherwise his insurance company would make it difficult for you.

Thanks for bringing in this very important angle. OK, so here is how things went. After the collision, I made a few important calls (called Fiat Helpline and had them send in a crane, called the police, called my folks) and headed to the nearest hospital for a quick chest X-ray and vital stats check. When I returned to the spot, the police was there and so was the owner of the cab. The driver of the cab had meanwhile "went missing".

The police pressed hard to negotiate. When I finally said I was going to file an FIR, they said that both the vehicles would have to be towed to the police station, where a technical inspection was to be held. The cars would be released the next day. Since the towing crane was already there (at my expense of Rs 2k) and after I realized that the cab owner seemed like a seasoned player, I went with what seemed to be the best option available at that time -- the police handed me over 8k from the owner. Since I was still under shock, one of my friends wrote the "agreement letter", which I later signed. I was shocked when the friend told me later that the amount in the agreement letter was 11.5k and that the police had pocketed Rs 3.5k for their "efforts".

I do have the contact of the cab owner and also a copy of the insurance certificate of the cab. The cab owner had also said he would supply the driving license of the cab driver whenever I wanted it. Is it still possible to use their third-party insurance to carry out the repairs? Would I need to file an FIR for it? If yes, would the car need to towed all over again to the police station before things can be finalized?

I know I might have acted like so many of us who are afraid of legal procedures (this despite the fact that I come from a family of lawyers, but not based in UP), but I wanted the altercation to end as soon as possible. I was gasping for breath after the seat-belt impact and not really in peak form. Also, the least I would have lost at that moment (in addition to accidental damage) was 2k for the crane.

Practical advice is welcome.

[Samartha]

Finally, some photos from my visit to the Oberoi workshop yesterday. I went to the workshop yesterday afternoon. Sensing my anxiety, the service adviser very patiently showed me around their bodyshop. At the end of it all, he even invited me over for a lunch in their modest office canteen. I had not had my lunch, so I gladly accepted the offer. Overall, I felt reassured that they could repair the damage.

Some key observations from the visit:

They seem to have spot-welding facilities instead of gas welding, which is good news, I guess.

They also seem to have an expensive machine for straightening the chassis. Will it be able to straighten the chassis with precision?

I also had a look at the estimates and they seem to have covered all of the damage. Your thoughts about the snapshots below. On the second page, the roof charges are for pulling out a dent and painting it. The roof is intact otherwise.

[gauravdgr8]

Samartha, first of all good to you that you are safe.

Now coming to the damage. Way back in '07, I had an accident in my M800 where in the B Pillar, Running Board on the driver's side were impacted and all was repaired. Post the repair, I did not find any issues with the car or it's stability.

If the work done is of good quality, you should see no issues and can keep the car for years.

Take care.

[WasavaTyres]

Hi this is quite similar to what my baby went thru. But I'm surprised to know the amount you are being asked to pay. I paid 100 bucks to the surveyor / insurance guy that too of my own volition and not as a actual charge. My car was about 3 months old when it happened. check the following link for pics :

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...ml#post2419429 (Accidents in India - PICS)

[samyakmodi]

Originally Posted by WasavaTyres

Hi this is quite similar to what my baby went thru. But I'm surprised to know the amount you are being asked to pay. I paid 100 bucks to the surveyor / insurance guy that too of my own volition and not as a actual charge. My car was about 3 months old when it happened. check the following link for pics :

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...ml#post2419429 (Accidents in India - PICS)

i was just about to ask samarth to get in touch with you. ;-)

well not coming straight to the point.

i seriously doubt that the vehicle would perform optimal.
if the chassis is bent - ideally it should be a total loss.
if i am not mistaken any damage to engine OR chassis qualifies for total loss. i may be wrong. check with your insurance people OR go through the policy.

i was also about to tell you to not bother about anything regarding the expense as the xylo's insurance company is obligated to cover your damages - but it seems we are all thinking on the same lines already.

since the cops did pocket the facilitation charges - i think it's only fair that you ask them to book an FIR and send a notice to the xylo's insurance company. they should take care of all the expenses. you can also ask them for financial compensation too.

do follow up the case legally - as end of the day you were not wrong and you shouldn't bear the cost of it. do call up the cab owner and tell him that he is liable to pay you the difference amount between what insurance pays you and what the actual bill is (though his insurance company will take care of the bills)

if possible - try convincing the insurance company for total loss OR get rid of it as soon as possible.